Common Fennel (pharmaceutical Dill) And Vegetable Fennel: Cultivation And Varieties. Fennel Recipes

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

We learn to grow and cook fennel, a spice plant that is rare in our beds, but popular in Europe

Fennel is one of the world's favorite spice plants. There are common fennel, or pharmaceutical dill (Foeniculum Vulgare Mill.), And vegetable or sweet fennel, Italian (Foeniculum Vulgare ssp. Vulgare (Miller) Thell.)

Fennel is a perennial plant of the celery (umbrella) family, originating from the Mediterranean countries. In the south of Ukraine, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, in the countries of Central Asia, and quite rarely in central Russia, ordinary fennel is widespread. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a height of 1-2 m, similar to dill. The stem is erect, rounded or slightly furrowed in cross section, strongly branched. The leaves are large, pinnately dissected, green. Yellow flowers are collected in an umbrella. The fruit is a ribbed two-seed that easily breaks up into halves. The root is powerful, fusiform, thickened. In this species, greens are used for food, like dill, seasoning with it meat dishes, salads, soups, and also seeds. Fennel fruits are used in baking for the preparation of some types of bread, sprinkled with buns, added to pies, puddings, cookies. As a seasoning, fennel goes well with fish, meat and vegetable dishes, and is a good spice for sauces and marinades.

For centuries, fennel has been used in medicine to treat stomach upsets, regulate bowel movements, get rid of flatulence, and more. Dill water known to many is a fennel product. Unfortunately, vegetable fennel is very little known in Russia. True, fennel can already be bought in the vegetable departments of hypermarkets in megalopolises, but it is still a secret behind seven seals. But this is the most valuable vegetable from among the "yellow-green" suppliers of beta-carotene. It is "quoted" at the level of parsley and coriander. It is grown all over the world, but in Russia it is almost not.

Vegetable fennel is vitamin C (22-90 mg2), carotene (2.6-10 mg2), rutin (8-9 mg2), mineral salts, sugar, proteins, fiber. In vegetable fennel, both roots and young shoots are used for food; the main thing in it is the thickened, fleshy bases of the petioles, growing together into the so-called "heads of cabbage". They are sold in hypermarkets. Heads of cabbage are used in raw, boiled, baked, stewed form, and the roots are also stewed, boiled, but more on that later.

Now about the varieties

Until recently, there were no varietal fennel seeds - at least in Russia. Mixed varieties were grown, populations obtained from the varieties Florentiysky, Italian large, Pepper, Ogorodny, Bologna, etc. In the "State Register of Varieties 2006" 7 varieties of vegetable fennel and one hybrid have already been introduced. The first was the Udalets variety (1996), created at VNIISSOK. The rest of the varieties have been introduced since 2000: Luzhnikovsky Semko (2000), F1 Rudi (2000), Aromat (2002), Leader (2003), Autumn handsome (2003), Soprano (2004).), Corvette (2005). However, gardeners have access to mainly seeds of the Udalets (VNIISSOK), Luzhnikovsky Semko and Soprano (Poisk) varieties. Judging by the years of introduction to the "State Register …", the interest in this culture is obvious.

Agrotechnics

Growing fennel is easy. He prefers neutral, highly fertile loamy soils. The best predecessors are cabbage, cucumber, i.e. unrelated crops, under which increased doses of organic matter were introduced. Since autumn, 20 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium salt (on heavy soils - 30 g of ammonium sulfate, or 20 g of urea) are introduced under deep digging per 1 m3. Fennel is usually grown in an annual culture. He is picky about light, moisture and soil fertility. Fennel is cold-resistant, therefore it is sown in early spring at an air temperature of 6 … 10 ° C, or before winter. For the winter, fennel crops require shelter with peat, humus, sawdust, etc.

Small seeds: 1000 seeds - 3.0-6.0 g; 1 g - 180-350 seeds. 1 m? sow 0.8-1.0 g of seeds. They retain their germination capacity for 2-3 years. The seeding depth is 1.5-2.0 cm. Sowing is ordinary with 45 cm row spacing, or two-line (50x20 cm) or five-line. Seeds sprout slowly - 14-20 days. To designate rows, lighthouse crops are added to the seeds: mustard, watercress, lettuce. A week after germination, the fennel crops are loosened in the aisles to a depth of 5-6 cm. After 5-10 days after germination, the plants are weeded, removing the lighthouse crops, thinned out by 15-20 cm in a row and foliar dressing is carried out. In the North-West of the Russian Federation, vegetable fennel is best grown through seedlings.

As the fleshy bases of the stalks of vegetable fennel thicken, hilling of plants is carried out in several stages. For greens, fennel plants are removed when they reach a height of 20 cm, before flowering. They are eaten fresh or dried, salted, etc. Vegetable fennel heads are harvested when they reach a diameter of 8-10 cm together with leaves. The yield of "heads of cabbage", shoots and roots is usually 1.2-1.6 kg / m2. For winter storage, plants are harvested before the onset of frost with roots, added dropwise in greenhouses or basements. When fennel is cultivated in a 2-3-year-old culture, it blooms in July-August, the fruits ripen in the warm summer in September. They are used for sowing for 2-3 years, or in home cooking, canning, etc.

Cooking fennel

Now about the main thing. Alas, many Russians not only do not know how to grow fennel, although the seeds are already on sale; but they don't even know how to cook it. But for all enlightened humanity, fennel is an ordinary favorite vegetable. I offer my recipe:

Fennel roast

For 4 servings, take 400-600 g of medium fat pork (neck), cut into pieces, fry in vegetable oil over high heat. Wash 4 heads of cabbage, dry and chop into pieces 2-3 cm long, fry in vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put the meat and fennel in the pata in layers, season with fried onions, spices to taste and simmer until the meat is tender. 3-5 minutes before being ready, season with crushed or dried garlic to taste. Garnish with fennel, cilantro, parsley, basil, etc. before serving.

And here are the recipes that we managed to collect for those readers who are interested in a new promising crop, and they will start growing it:

Fennel salad with apples

Chop or coarsely grate a couple of heads of fennel. Grate apple with sourness (preferably green) with peel. Mix the ingredients, add lemon juice, salt, herbs (parsley, cilantro, etc.) to taste.

Fennel salad

Cut the heads of cabbage into slices, chop the green onions, add salt, pour over with vegetable oil, sprinkle with lemon juice and mix. Season with mayonnaise before serving.

Fennel soup with croutons (2 servings)

Cut the green shoots of fennel, rinse, dry. Cut a head of fennel (200 g) into strips, put in boiling chicken broth (300 ml), add one chopped onion, salt and spices to taste. Cover the dishes and cook on low heat until softened - about 30 minutes. Cool the soup a little, rub through a sieve, add 150 ml of milk and 1 tsp. lemon juice. Boil.

Mix 3 tbsp. l. yogurt (no additives) or cream, one egg yolk, a little soup. Beat the mixture and pour into the soup, cooled to 70 ° C.

To prepare croutons from three slices of bread, cut off the crusts, cut the bread into cubes. Heat a couple of garlic cloves in oil, let it brew, then remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, put the bread in butter, let it soak, then remove and dry on a napkin.

Garnish the warmed soup with herbs and serve with croutons.

Fish with fennel

In four medium-sized (portioned) fish (pike perch, mackerel, sea bass, etc.), cut the skin crosswise. Grind 6-8 plants (stems and leaves) of fennel. Put the fish on folded foil and fill (2 tablespoons each) with fennel. Place the remaining fennel between the fish. Sprinkle the dish with vegetable oil and the juice of half a lemon. Fry over an open fire or grill, turn once. Salt, spices to taste. Serve the cooked fish, sprinkle with fennel and garnish with lemon wedges.

Braised fennel

Chop the cabbage finely, stew until softened with butter and onions, season with slightly fried flour, pour in a little broth. Before serving, season with sour cream, garnish with chopped fennel leaves or other herbs.

Fennel with tomato sauce

Peel four small heads of fennel, wash and cut in half. Set aside the remaining greens. Peel a couple of small onions and chop finely. Heat 2 tbsp in a saucepan. l. olive oil and sauté the onion in it until golden brown. Add chopped fennel to a saucepan, 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds, 180 ml dry white wine and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. Then salt the fennel, pepper with white pepper and put on preheated plates. Pour the juice of 1 lemon into the remaining broth, add 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste, bring to a boil, boil for a few minutes and pour the fennel on the plates with the resulting sauce. Decorate the dish with finely chopped fennel herbs.

Scampi in French

Large peeled shrimps (24 pieces) lightly salt and pepper with ground black pepper. Melt 4 tablespoons in a flat saucepan. butter, lightly fry the shrimp in it, pour in 2 tbsp. l. aniseed liqueur and set on fire. Then remove the shrimp from the saucepan. Cut 200 g of fennel into strips and lightly sauté it in a saucepan with 2 tbsp. l. chopped shallots. Pour in 1/4 l of fish broth, add a pinch of saffron, mix well and evaporate the liquid by about half. Pour in 200 g of sour cream, bring to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes. Peel one tomato, remove the seeds, and cut it into small pieces. Place the tomato slices along with 1 tablespoon of chopped fennel and shrimp in the prepared sauce and heat. Salt the finished dish and add ground black and cayenne pepper.

Bon appetit and good health!